


Three Months

by Femalefonzie



Series: Xmen Evolution: Omegaverse [2]
Category: X-Men Evolution
Genre: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Angst, Angst With A Bittersweet Ending, BAMF Logan, Canon-Typical Violence, Charles Has Issues, Comfort/Angst, Consensual Underage Sex, Erik Logic Is The Best Logic, F/F, F/M, High School, Humor, Lance Is a Good Bro, M/M, Mutant Hate, Mutant Politics, Mutant Segregation, Past Character Death, Past Domestic Violence, Past Violence, Pietro & Wanda are awesome siblings, Smut, Threesome - F/F/M, mentions of mpreg
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-23
Updated: 2017-06-13
Packaged: 2018-11-03 22:57:10
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Underage
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,471
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10977114
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Femalefonzie/pseuds/Femalefonzie
Summary: Set after Two WeeksJust as Pietro and the Brotherhood are settling into their new lives with the Xmen, and Kurt & Logan are returning from Germany, two mutants begin a murderous rampage attracting massive media attention. With the mutant secret out in the open, friends and foes from the past entering the picture, and relationships coming into question, can the Xmen rise to the occasion.





	1. Chapter 1

__Three Months:

Prologue

To say that they had been waiting a long time to do this would be an understatement. Over sixteen years had passed since they were unjustly torn apart from their loved ones, and forced to confront the bitter reality that they were alone once again. Alone, except for each other.

Neither worked well alone. The woman, who still managed to present a certain amount of elegance and flair despite her growing age, had been alone for as long as she could remember. Alone, abandoned, and left to rot inside a tiny little cell the size of a broom closet. She was gifted, that she knew, otherwise she would have been killed long ago. It was in that tiny cell that she learned to hone her craft, learned to predict, and manipulate, and prepare for her eventual escape.

Then they brought her in.

She was the same age if not a little younger. Small, frail, and screaming her heart out. She had been begging, calling for someone. Her mother. "Mama! Mama! Don't leave me with them!" She cried out. Her mother was already gone. She took the price offered for her only daughter and sold the child into a life of pain, misery, and experimentation for the so called greater good.

The woman, then a girl, felt pity. They were in the same boat, but had ended up there for different reasons. She had, in a sense, climbed into this hell herself but the other girl...she had been tossed aside. Sold. Like property. At night she could hear this child cry for her mother, for her father, for her brother, all people who she would never see again. The woman, still just a child herself, wondered what it would be like to have someone to call out for when in such dangerous circumstances. Had the other girl's father and brother known about what her mother had been planning? Were they calling out for her somewhere too?

They talked through the cracks in the wall. About where they lived before, of what they remembered about their families, about what they'd do when they got out. The woman, still naive enough then to not know better, wanted to travel. She wanted to see the world and meet different people. The other girl did too but she was done with people. She wanted to go some place far away, where there was no one around to hurt her, and she could do whatever she wanted.

They decided to escape together, and stay together. Three years after they were sold into hell, they left in a flurry of blood, guts, and bullets, and took as many people as they could with them. There had been over 150 people imprisoned there, and 23 managed to make it to the trees line outside. The two girls made it, and got as far from that place as they possibly could. They'd both seen some horrors, stuff they'd rather forget, but they made it. They survived, and we're going to continue surviving together.

He came along sometime later. Years later. Like them he had been alone for a long time, had been hurt and kicked around by the world, but he had a good heart. He wanted to help, to stop the hurting, and he believed that even the most evil of people could change. Admittedly, his now partner in crime didn't much care for him at first. She could see the way he looked at her friend, at her sister, the only family she had left. He looked at her like he wanted to remember her face for all of eternity, like he never knew when he was going to see her again. They could have been standing on the precipice of heaven, the most beautiful place in existence, but rather than admire it's complexity and wonder, he'd rather look at her. It was sweet in a way, but yet maddening. It took the woman years to realize that her sister and him being together did not mean loosing the only person she cared about.

Gradually, she came to see the man as a friend. As her brother-in-law (though not quite so. It was impossible for any actual legal ceremony to take place).

There were others in their circle. A man with sweet eyes, the father of the year and his wonderful little girl, and a woman who was both an elegant flower and a fiery queen. The woman grew to love them all deeply, but none as much as the first real friend she'd ever made. Then she found out she was going to be an aunt and it was like seeing the sky for the first time.

She loved them immediately, and openly declared it to everyone who would listen. She made plans to teach the child how to play the piano, and do backflips and cartwheels. She was going to spoil them, going to buy them everything their little heart desired, take them to the movies and the park, and protect them from anything and everything that could cause them harm. Both she and her now partner planned, in growing anticipation, for the arrival of the little one.

Then it all went to shit. They lost everything. Their home, their jobs, their friends, and their family...neither the baby or its mother made it and the pair were left trying to think of what to do next.

It wasn't as hard as they originally had anticipated. She wanted the world to burn and he was tired of loosing everyone he loved. They were skilled, they were smart, and they were powerful. Mercenary work came to them easily.

"Are you ready?" He asked. This was the big one; the job they'd been waiting for since they started this line of work. The only reason the two bothered to stay alive. After this nothing else mattered.

They stood outside an empty office building that had been locked up tight since the 70s. It looked like a run of the mill government building but then again looks could be deceiving.

"Yeah Aza. I'm ready." Once upon a time she had hoped to never have to step back into that place. A lot could change in 31 years."

Azazel nodded but he wasn't so convinced as to his partner's comfort. "This is where the records were kept. Of everything they ever did to you, and to Raven..."

"I know."

"They were, most likely, the ones who attacked the mansion..."

"I know."

"They killed them Emma."

"I KNOW!" Emma Frost snapped in response. "I know what they did! I was there! And after decades of waiting I finally want to kill these bastards!"

They killed her sister, and her sister's child. They robbed her of any cancel she ever had at a normal life. Not just her though, they stole the lives of hundreds of mutants. Their day had finally come. It was time for Homo Superior to rise up and overthrow their human oppressors! To expose the countless injustices they had done to mutant-kind, to eliminate those who had persecuted them, and deliver justice to those who had suffered!

Once they got the necessary information from this hellhole they just had to call their benefactors; The American politician who was in far over his head, and an old friend.

Emma grabbed a hold of Azazel's wrist and they teleported inside.

~~~~~~~~~

Life in the Xavier Institute was a lot different than life in the Brotherhood house. For starters it was far cleaner than that old place ever hoped to be. Anyone who moved in after Mystique's crew were going to have to wash the entire place down with bleach and a cocktail of the world's strongest cleaning chemicals. It was disgusting, in every sense of the word, but somehow the former brotherhood team found themselves nostalgic over the mess.

"See this dent up at the top of the stairs?"

"Yeah! That's from where Toad smashed his head trying to break into Mystique's room!"

"I'm surprised he didn't get brain damage. That was quite a hit."

"Eh. I'm used to it yo."

"Also it's not like he has a lot of brain to damage."

"I swear to the aliens Tabitha-"

Every dent, every stain, every remnant of their careless destruction had a story behind it. From the torn up old couch, to the broken window in the dining room, to the huge vomit stain turning the kitchen tile a faded green. The house was vile, it was sick, but it had been home for the majority of their high school experience and it was hard to see it go.

Mystique wasn't coming back. She left weeks ago, powerful, still thirsting for Magneto's head on a platter, but her ties with Xavier and his students had been (somewhat) stabilized. Seeing as no one on the team wanted her dead, Mystique took this as her que to leave and disappeared a couple nights after Pietro had been rescued. No one knew if she was still communicating with the Professor, no one knew if she would come back, and no one really wanted to talk about it. Since their leader was gone, their cash flow had run out, and the Brotherhood house was one more accident away from being condemned, they all agreed that it would be for the best to stay at the Institute. Running water, fresh food, power, heat, and easy access to certain members of the Xmen...it was a hard offer to pass up.

They weren't, technically, Xmen. They weren't ready for proper training, most still had emotional issues to work through, and Pietro was still coming to terms with being an omega and what happened with his father and Graydon. At the moment they weren't ready to join their former rivals, but someday soon they would make fine additions to the team.

They weren't taking much from the house. Most of the furniture was broken or moldy, and it wasn't like most of them had many possessions. Lance had a dufflebag full of clothes and his guitar, Toad only had enough junk to fill a box, most of Fred's belongings were with his grandpa, and Tabitha and Pietro had a couple of bags each. Most of it had been brought over in the weeks that followed their initial move in but since Kurt and Logan were going to be returning any day now, and that was going to be a disaster, they decided to wrap things up today. No point in dragging out the inevitable.

Lance finished gathering his stuff first and packed it into the back of his jeep. Toad, Tabitha, and Fred hung around inside the house, basking in nostalgia and searching for hidden items they'd stashed around the place over the years. The human rock tumbler pulled a box of cigarettes out of his pocket, and rooted around the glove compartment for a lighter. He could, out of the corner of his eye, see Evan and Pietro goofing off in the side yard near the woods. Lance smirked at the pair, and kicked his feet up on the dashboard. His speedster friend had been out of heat for a couple days and it hadn't been easy on anyone. With what Graydon had done to him...

Lance shook his head. He didn't want to think about that right now. Pietro had a lot weighing on him but being around Evan was helping him a lot. The former brotherhood leader hated to admit it, mostly because he hated the majority of the X-Dorks with a passion, but Evan was good for his friend. He kept him happy, and loose, and knew exactly how to comfort and calm Pietro down. It had been weeks since he went into heat, since Graydon and Magneto had took off, and since Pietro had used that controversial healthcare product. It was too early to tell how it may have affected the young omega down the road, but until then everyone was holding their breath. No one wanted to be a teenage parent.

The speedster had the brilliant idea to wrap a rope around his waist and pull Evan around on his skateboard. So far, the younger of the two had only fallen flat on his face once so they were considering this little idea a success. It was stupid and childish but damn it, it was also pretty fun. Pietro couldn't remember the last time he'd done something like this.

"When everyone's all packed up, we should try and take it to the institute! Think you could hold on for that long?" Pietro asked with a grin.

"Sounds like a challenge." Evan fired back, using his mate's old motivation against him. "I think I'll manage."

Pietro skid to a halt and spun around. Still grinning, he charged forward and tackled his mate off his board and onto the ground. Evan laughed and wrapped his arms around the other boy's slim waist, and pulled him into deep kiss. Gradually, his hands started to move a lower until he was cupping his mate's ass. Pietro giggled into the kiss and slipped a hand down Evan's shorts to-

"You guys aren't going to bone are you?" Lance called over in hopes of reminding the pair that they were still in public and that they weren't alone. "Because I'm pretty sure that's illegal to do in public."

Pietro bolted up and away from his mate, tumbling backwards onto his ass while Evan tried to brush some dirt off his clothes and look more presentable. "Fuck off Lance!" Pietro shouted back, taking the time to flip his old buddy off. "Like you and Kitty don't do the exact same thing when no one's looking!"

"Yeah! When no one's looking!" Lance yelled back. "You guys want to say goodbye to the house, if you know what I mean? Let Evan be the last dude you ever brought up to your room for some 'alone time'? How many have there been over the years? 10, 23, 46?"

"How 'bout you go suck a dick Lance?"

"You offering there Sonic?"

"One more word outta you and I'll tell Kitty all about how you still sleep with a teddy bear!"

"SO DO YOU!"

Evan couldn't help but chuckle. "Does everyone in the Brotherhood sleep with childhood toys or just you two?"

"...Fred does."

"Tabitha has this old Chatty Cathy her dad got her. It sounds like a 96 year old, smoker grandma. It's the stuff of nightmares."

"Toad has this slinky from 1992. It doesn't even slink anymore! It's just a line of plastic at this point!"

And these guys were supposed to be the Xmen's biggest threat. Hard to take them seriously when you pictured the crew of them sitting around the stairs trying to get a broken slinky to the bottom step. "You're all adorable. And I never thought I would say those words to you. And if you, Lance specifically, ever tell anyone that I said that I'll kick your ass."

"You and me in the danger room Spykey-boy! I ain't afraid to make you look like a punk in front of your mate!"

"My mate is an even bigger punk!" Evan replied with a laugh and a playful smile.

Pietro raised his arms triumphantly over his head. Punk was (probably) the best thing he'd ever been called. "Damn right I am!"

For just a moment they could all act like regular teenagers, like stupid kids. It's funny how looking back on moments like this, moments were everything is just normal, just mundane, makes them seem farther away than they actually were. If any of them, Pietro, Evan, Lance, or anyone else in the Brotherhood, knew what was in store for Mutant kind next, maybe they would have lingered around the old Brotherhood place a little longer, enjoyed being a kid for just a little while longer.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 1

Kurt didn't expect to be welcomed home with open arms. He and Logan had just up and left, taking the Blackbird with them without so much as a note. Worse yet, they'd left at a time when they were needed. The teleporter knew that he should have stayed, should have waited until Pietro's issues were resolved before taking off, but he had been so eager to take a mate....his judgement had been little foggy. Then there was the matter of Victor. How was he going to explain his sudden departure to his newfound friend? He just wished he could have stayed at his mate's side while the Professor spoke with him.

They landed a little after lunch. To Kurt's surprise, he could see Toad, Blob, Rogue and that Remy guy all hanging around at the pool. Remy he could understand. He was an omega, Rogue was an alpha, and they got along rather well, but he had figured that the brotherhood would have left after Quicksilver mated. He hoped this meant that the speedster was still hanging around the Institute but he wouldn't be surprised if this was just the result of the Brotherhood boys being bored in a warm day.

He leaned slightly against Logan and asked, "Vhat do you think they're going to say?"

Logan didn't care what people said. It was one of the many things that made him Logan. He cocked an eyebrow at his young mate, "What do you mean by that Darlin'?"

"Ze age difference. Plus, technically, you're a teacher here-"

"More like a coach/bodyguard but I see your point." The age difference, the teacher/student relationship, the fact that they stole a billion dollar jet! Logan knew that they were going to get an earful the minute they stepped in the door. "Whatever it is, I'll handle it. Chuck will just bitch for a bit, probably stick me with some extra training sessions, and then after a week forget all about it. Like the Thanksgiving of '94."

"Vhat happened in 1994?"

"We don't talk about that baby. Ever."

It couldn't have been worse than Taco Tuesday in the Danger Room. Then again, that ended with taco shells and baked beans being thrown around at about 90 mph so not much could be worse than that. The team were still finding stray pieces of lettuce whenever they did training exercises!

The hanger was deserted. Kurt considered this a good sign. If they moved quickly, he and Logan could probably get their stuff upstairs and unpacked without drawing much attention to themselves. After that it would be in their best interest to search out the Professor themselves. He may go easier on them that way. Stick them with dish duty for the next three years. They teleported up into Kurt's room. It was empty but the bed that had been set up for Pietro to use looked slept it. His stuff was still in dufflebags on the floor.

"Looks like the Roadrunner is still staying here." Logan said, and gave one of Pietro's bag a nudge with his foot. "Guess that means he made it through his heat alright."

"Zat could explain vhat Ze brotherhood is still doing here." That and the institute was a much better facility than the boarding house. Cleaner, for one. With power, heat, and water, for another.

"Yeah. Otherwise Scott and Avalanche would have killed each other by now." Logan looked back over his shoulder and out into the hallway. "I think I'm going to go look for Chuck. Get this over with. You finish up here and when he wants to see you...well you'll know." At least this way Wolverine would get the blunt of it. Time to bite the bullet.

Kurt nodded and started putting his clothes back into his dresser. A couple minutes after Logan had left and he was on his last shirt, the German boy noticed that the Rock Sabertooth had given him had been moved. He was sure he'd left it on his dresser and he couldn't think of a reason why Quicksilver would have moved it! Kurt looked around the room and spotted it over by the window. A note had been placed under it on a tattered looking piece of paper that had been torn out of some old book. Kurt took it out from under the rock and read through it. The writing was almost illegible, but he could make out the jest of it.

 ~~Dear~~ ~~Kid~~ Kurt,

I want to thank you again for saving me. I know a lot of people wouldn't have bothered with all the shit I've done. I don't blame them. Still, you saved my life and I'm grateful.

If you ever need my help, I'm still a phone call away. Even with the Runt 'n me still hating each other.

I'm leaving for a bit. Promised John I would help him out with something. I don't know when I'll be back, but I'll let you know.

~~Runt's lucky to have you.~~

~~I hope you're happy together.~~

Your friend,

Victor.

His friend Victor. Kurt smiled and put both the rock and note into the top draw of his dresser for safe keeping. When Logan and him were through with the Professor he'd let him know where the Big Cat was. It would sooth his mate's mind to know that his rival for nearly a century was no longer in town, or interested in fighting (at least for the moment). Speaking of Logan, Kurt supposed he better see how he was getting along with Ororo and the Professor. As he headed to the door Kurt could hear something coming from the bathroom. It sounded like the shower was running...and giggling...

Kurt knew better than to just teleport inside. He'd gotten himself into trouble with Scott and Jean once by doing exactly that. The teleporter knocked on the door and called in, "Hello? Who's there?"

Silence followed quickly by a familiar voice saying "Kurt?" There was rustling, hushed whispering, and the door creaked open just enough so Kurt could see the person's face but not their body. Most likely, Kurt suspected, because they were undressed. He could hear the shower turn on in the background. Pietro stuck his head out and grinned, "It is you! You're finally back!"

Well this was an improvement over what Pietro had been like the last time he and Kurt had spoken. This caused Kurt to grin himself, "Ja! Ve just got back! It's zo good to zee zat you're feeling better! You took a mate, ja?" The person who had started the shower behind the speedster. "Vas it Lance? Or vas zat just hormones?"

"Ew! I would never sleep with Lance! He's so...Lance! Moody, and angry, and greasy! He needs a shower and a decent haircut!" Not as badly as Toad but enough that his teammates had brought it up to the teen on a few occasions. "I uh, I found someone else."

"Oh? Zomeone from school?"

Pietro looked back over his shoulder at his mate. "Someone from the institute." He said, "Sooooooo long story short, it looks like the brotherhood is hanging around. Signing up. Moving in-"

"You're mooching off the Professor?"

The speedster shrugged. "More or less. Anyway, I did move in to be closer with my mate but he doesn't have a private bathroom and Scott was in there having a shower so we popped in here. That's...that's okay with you right buddy?"

"Scott does take long showers." Half of the mansion's hot water was used up by the team's leader alone. He could spend up to an two hours at a time of someone didn't yell at him to get out! "Nein! I don't mind. Feel free to use it vhenever you vant!"

"Thanks Kurt. When I'm done in here you're going to have to tell me about what happened in Germany. Everything. I wanna hear all about what you and old man Logan got up to. I'm talking about size-"

Before Kurt even had time to blush and stammer a set of arms found themselves wrapped around the Speedster's shoulders. "Think you could wait until after our shower to talk about this? Not that I'm not excited to hear all about Logan's dick."

"Evan?!" Kurt exclaimed. "Yo-you and Pietro...? You're m-mates...?!" He knew that they had been getting close since the Brotherhood moved in but going from enemies to being in a committed relationship within a matter of weeks was a pretty big step. "Wow...I uh...did not see that one coming."

Evan chuckled and ducked back into the bathroom. "It caught a lot of us by surprise. Anyway, can you holding off talking about your sex life for about twenty minutes? Be a pal?" He called back out.

"Uh...ja. Ja, go ahead. I'm going to go find Logan. Make sure the professor isn't being too hard on him." Logan had been fine with the idea of them not actually having sex until Kurt was 18. It had been the omega's idea to fly off and make it official. He just hoped that the Professor understood that.

~~~~~~

"What you did was completely irresponsible! I cannot believe that someone with such training, such trust, would go behind our backs and do something so inappropriate!"

It was going to be bad. Logan had absolutely no doubts about that. Ignoring the fact that he had taken an underage student as his mate and promptly fled the country together, he had stolen school property, left at a time when both he and Kurt were needed, and didn't even bother to resolve the issue with Sabertooth with the Professor. He had known that the Speedster was in trouble but everyone had underestimated how grave it was. Magneto being an oversized dick, the arrival of that Graydon Creed, the need to pull Wanda Maximoff off of an institution in order to defend her brother...Logan's little rogue stint couldn't have come at a worse time and Chuck wasn't afraid to tell him that.

The Professor had been in his office, Ororo and Wanda hovering nearby. Storm stood behind the Prof's desk, silent and stoic, but judging her teammate. He could see the disappointment in her eyes. Then there was Wanda, relaxed out on an old, posh sofa reading some vampire romance novel. She didn't seem to care about the situation. She just stuck close to the Professor. He was the only one Wanda felt comfortable interacting with on a daily basis. Hopefully once she got training with the team Wanda would come out of her shell.

"Well?" Chuck asked, "What do you have to say for yourself? What possible excuse do you have for acting like some one dimensional character in a crappy, pre-teen, romance novel!"

Logan shrugged.

"GOD DAMN IT LOGAN! You cannot act so impulsively!" The Professor cut himself off with a loud and dramatic sigh, and dropped his head onto his desk. "Logan....why...? You knew you shouldn't have done that...why..."

"I'm gonna take care of him Chuck. I love-"

The telepath groaned but didn't bother to lift his head up. He felt like he was screaming into a well, like Logan had earplugs in and couldn't hear him. What had gotten into his former second in command?! "Don't think for a second I'm going to let you two move in together! What would the parents think?! He's still just a teenager Logan!"

Logan had met Kurt's parents when they were in Germany. He'd gotten the Elf's parents' blessing. They had been fine with their son mating an older man....but he knew that other parents wouldn't be as accepting. It would look more than a little unusual to any visiting parent to see a teacher so close with a student. "...I suspected as much. Fine. We won't share a room but he's still my mate Chuck! I'm going to look after him-"

"-When he's 18 I don't care what you two do together but right now I'm putting a stop to it! No sleeping together, no moving in together, no sex, no stealing the Blackbird to fly around the world and have sex, nothing that would be considered inappropriate by any persons who happened to be visiting-"

"Define inappropriate."

"No touching. No kissing. Nothing. If I so much as see you blow a kiss his way I'll have you spend the rest of your life thinking that you're Toad's six year old sister! Do I make myself clear?!"

Logan gritted his teeth together. "Crystal." He stuck his hands into the pockets of his jeans and spun around on his heel. "I'm going to make a sandwich."

And totally not use the Blackbird to sharpen his claws. He hated to sound like some bratty teenage girl but this just wasn't fair! It wasn't his fault he had feelings for the kid! It wasn't his fault that Sabertooth suddenly took a liking to him! He had to protect Kurt! Kurt wanted them to be together! It wasn't like he forced it...

He shut the door behind him and ignored the hushed whispering that followed his departure. It had been a long time before someone was talking behind his back who wasn't a student. Even then, most of the students hear would just gossip about how big of a pain in the ass his training exercises were. They didn't give a rat's ass about his lifestyle.

The mansion was still fairly empty. It was a Saturday and The Professor had called most of the training exercises scheduled in order to help the Brotherhood relocate. Logan could hear some splashing coming from around back, assumed most of the kids were in the pool, and proceeded on into the kitchen. Tabitha, Amara, Bobby, Sam and Jubilee were all lingering about the stove. Dirty dishes and half-empty bags of flour were scattered across the room. The back of Tabitha's shirt was covered in a light brown substance that smelled like cookie dough. Great, someone had decided to let these culinary school drop outs try and bake...

"-Baking soda and baking powder are not the same thing...-"

"-they totally are-"

"No! Soda is salty. If you put in the soda then you don't need salt-"

"-you said that last time and we baked up a batch of hockey pucks!"

Logan turned around and left before any of them could notice he was there. The guy had already been through more than enough with Charles today, he wasn't about to become some Guinea pig for teeth breaking cookies or salmonella surprise! He wanted to be alone with his thoughts. Luckily there was one room in this mansion where no teenagers dared to enter. Logan's bedroom was a "no-go zone" ever since he caught Bobby, Jamie, and Ray in there one night trying to pull the ol' itching powder in your boxers prank. Logan got the last laugh. He made the boys run through a couple training exercises after making them pour the powder down their own pants. When they brought it up to the Professor and Ororo, the pair just laughed and told them to leave their other instructor's belongings alone.

With nothing else to do until the kids finished up whatever monstrosity they were baking and got out of the kitchen Logan flopped down onto his bed and shut his eyes. Kurt would come looking for him soon, and then he'd have to tell him everything, but for now he just wanted to rest.

" _ **GUYS! GUYS! COME QUICK! YOU GOTTA SEE THIS**_!"

Logan forced his eyes back open and growled. "Every god damn time..."

~~~~~~

Once it hit noon there was nothing good on TV. All the cartoons stopped and were replaced with absurd amounts of golf, game shows, re-runs of soap operas from the late 70s, and those weird commercials that were two hours long. Lance had been lucky enough to finish up at the Brotherhood house and make it back to the Institute in just enough time to catch the last couple cartoons with Kitty. He'd missed a lot of his favorites but Jackie Chan Adventures, The Mummy, and What's New Scooby Doo? hadn't aired yet and he considered that a win. Kitty had a bowl of chips in her lap and had taken the liberty of grabbing them both some sodas from the fridge.

"You missed Sailor Moon and Powerpuff Girls," She informed him with a mouth full of buttery popcorn. "Don't worry. I taped them for you."

Lance Alvers was a damn lucky man. He smiled, leaned over and kissed her cheek. "Thank you. Things took a little longer than expected. Is everyone else back yet?"

"They went over with you in the jeep, didn't they?"

"Yeah but Evan and Pietro came back by themselves."

Kitty shrugged and popped a couple more popcorn pieces into her mouth. "I think they're back. Coulda sworn I felt a rush of air blow past me. Everyone else is around somewhere."

Lance grabbed a hand full of popcorn from the bowl, leaned back, and put his feet up on the coffee table. Usually his teammates liked to watch Kids WB with him but there was other things to do now, other people to see. He and Kitty could enjoy this time together without someone bursting in and making it awkward.

As programming would have it What's New Scooby Doo? came on first. It wasn't anything groundbreaking; pretty much the same set up as the old 60s cartoon, but the animation looked alright and a couple of the jokes landed right. The episode was about the gang visiting some SKI lodge for a Snowboarding competition, something snow related. About midway through the episode Kitty leaned over and whispered, "Bet you five bucks that it's that snowboarder guy."

"Avalanche Anderson?!" Lance replied. "We just saw him get hurt! No, no, it's definitely that billionaire guy. He's loosing money, can write off the monster and collect insurance, it's him."

"What kind of insurance company covers monster attacks?" Kitty asked.

"Big ones! Big insurance companies! For people so loaded that they buy every protection available for that wealth! You just think Avalanche did it because of his name, don't you?"

"That may or may not be a factor."

"You're on then! I'm 100% certain that it's that billionaire guy!" And with that five dollars, Lance would treat himself to the best junk food the school vending machines had to offer! Those chips that were lodged into the rack and wouldn't budge no matter how long he shook the machine, a can of Surge soda, fuzzy peaches!

The rest of the episode went over quickly. After the big chase scene there was really only one direction to go and that was to wrap things up as quickly as possible before kids started poking holes. The snow monsters had been caught, the gang and an assortment of one-time characters stood around the fallen the foe. Lance and Kitty exchanged devious looks, both believing themselves to be the victor, as Velma reached to reveal the villain's true identity....-

The screen changed. It turned to static for a second then to the familiar logo of the Bayville News station. "We interrupt this program for an important message."

"NO! NO! _**NOOOOO**_!" Kitty exclaimed. "COME ON! We almost had it..."

Lance started rooting around the couch cushions of the television remote. "Change the channel! Maybe it's on somewhere else!"

Kitty found the remote laying discarded on the floor, dove for it, and started channel surfing. No cartons, no infomercials, not even a round of golf, everything channel was broadcasting various news stations reporting on...something. After the 24th station in under two minutes, Kitty gave up and slumped back into the couch. "Damn..."

What Lance did not know was that she had seen that particular episode before, and remembered who the bad guy was. If it had only kept playing, she would have been five dollars richer...

"It uh...it must be pretty big if every station is covering it." Lance said, trying to take his mind off what he believed to be a guaranteed victory. "You don't think we were attacked again, do you?"

Kitty shook her head. "No. We would have heard about it sooner. And the reporters wouldn't look so calm. I don't think this is a military thing either...it's so sudden..."

The anchor looked unusually pale. Her hands were shaking as she tried to read from the notes passed to her. "Sh-shocking news from Calgary today...a series of top secret documents have been made public following a break in at a government facility. Said documents were published online just hours ago and any attempts to take them down have been fruitless." She paused, looked down at her notes, gulped, and continued. "Now...what I'm about to describe may be disturbing to some viewers."

Kitty Pryde wasn't a damsel in distress. She was a "girly" girl but she had been in more fights than any of the guys at school, she'd stared feat in the face, and laughed, and kicked it in the balls, but something about this didn't sit right with her. She looked up at Lance who had turned a little pale. It could be anything...and when you lived in a world were people had such amazing powers anything could easily be a threat. She hooked onto his arm and pressed her check to his shoulder. He leaned back and wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

The reporter was stuttering, trying her best to sound professional with the information that had been presented to her. "These...classified files have revealed...have revealed a top secret arms ra-race that seems to hav-have occurred during the ea-early 1970s...to the be-beg- _beginning_ of the 1990s! The document make it...make it clear that Canada and the U.S. were collab-collaborating on the venture while refere-referencing several countries working on solo ventures..." A picture of one of the stolen documents appeared on the screen to replace the poor reporter. Her address continued. "In this arms race...the we-weapon of choice....appears to have been _human_ soldiers."

Kitty couldn't help but snort at that. "Human soldiers? That isn't news. That's the army! How was Canada going to get a leg up over the communists with human..." Oh no... _ **no**_. It couldn't be possible...

The anchor woman was still struggling to finish her report. "Civilians were...brought in...and over a period of years we-were subject to _experimentation_ , both to them-themselves and rep-repo- _reproductively_!"

This wasn't good! Oh god, this definitely wasn't good! Kitty shot up, knocking Lance off her and started screaming. " _ **GUYS! GUYS! COME QUICK! YOU GOTTA SEE THIS**_!" She knew what arms race the world had just stumbled onto! Everyone on the team knew about it! From that terrible military abomination...came Wolverine.

Weapon X had just gone public.


End file.
